


Yeah, You Were Right

by Iamacarrot



Series: High-Key/Low-Key [3]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, But he can be sweet when he has to be, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Happens after The Gumbus, I like the idea of Leo being able to read hidden feelings, Leo can be an overconfident jerk, Self-Doubt, That makes for a good talent to work with, fear of ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-23 00:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17070035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamacarrot/pseuds/Iamacarrot
Summary: After Leo and Mikey return from the Stock 'nd Shop, Leo takes no time to continue his bragging, and it makes Mikey feel like a pretty dumb baby.Which wasn't necessarily Leo's intention.





	Yeah, You Were Right

**Author's Note:**

> Why has no one done this yet?! Fore shame on you guys! Dishonor on you all! On Y'all, on your families, on your cows, and on your dogs! XD

"Oh man! I can't believe you  _actually thought_ that stupid ghost was real! Donnie and Raph are gonna get a kick out of this!" Leo cackled, gripping his stomach and continuing his verbal assault on Mikey as the duo began to return to the lair after having dropped April off.

With an eye roll, Mikey looked to the side, crossing his arms and blushing.

Okay, he got it. He was being a baby, he believed in an imaginary ghost. It's not like Leo had to constantly repeat it to the world. There was enough for Mikey to be embarrassed about when it came to his older brothers, such as, how he would never be as strong, or brave, or cool as them. Today was more proof of that. How was Mikey supposed to impress his brothers, if he couldn't even handle taking in the truth? That he was just a dumb kid, who believed in dumb, unrealistic stuff.

"Leo, can you please stop talking about that? You've made your stance on this  _very_ clear." Mikey huffed.

"Oh, I don't think so! This was probably the  _greatest_ mistake you've ever made! And I'm gonna be taunting you about this, for a  _LONG TIME!"_   Leo cackled.

Mikey pouted, slowing his pace so that he wouldn't have to be right next to the insults Leo was spewing. Leo could be such an  _asshole_. How Mikey managed to get this far without beating Leo up was a mystery in itself. The Slider was so overconfident, and so adamant on being right about everything. Sure, he had a point about there being a logical explanation to most everything, but the least he could have done was humor Mikey! All Leo was doing right now, was making Mikey feel like the biggest  _douchebag_ in the world! If it hadn't been for Mikey, April and Leo wouldn't have had to be dragged into this mess. If it hadn't been for Mikey, all three of them could have happily been watching Tv and drinking hot chocolate! If it hadn't been for Mikey, that Stockboy kid wouldn't have been put through so much effort, just to get grounded!

"Way to go. You've added another point to your "be a complete idiot" board. You should be  _so proud_." Mikey muttered, looking to the ground.

The brothers made their way to the lair at around 11:45 pm, and Leo took no time to announce the happenings of the evening to Donnie and Raph.

To avoid being absolutely humiliated more than he already was, Mikey scampered off to his room, shutting and locking his door and plopping down onto his bed. Just like a kid. A cowardly kid who couldn't stand being judged. At that, Mikey thought over what Leo had asked, if being wrong was always as scary as being chased by a ghost-robot. With a chuckle, Mikey let a few tears slip. Being wrong was  _much scarier_ than that,  _especially_ if you're always wrong. Mikey knew that from firsthand experience. He was nothing more than the adorable  _idiot_ of the family. Nothing more than comic relief.

If anything, Mikey should have asked if being so unneeded was always as painful as this. Was it normal to feel unimportant when your role of a group is so menial? Was it normal to become the butt of everyone's jokes when your assigned role was to make others feel better, and nothing more? Was it normal to start seeing your door handle twist and turn, and for the door you're _sure_ you had locked, to open?

"Wait. What?" Mikey muttered, looking to see that Leo had (somehow) managed to open the door.

Mikey sighed, looking away from Leo and resting his face in the sheets, resisting the urge to scream with frustration and heartbreak.

"Why are you in here?" Mikey asked, picking his head back up, but refusing to look at Leo.

"I didn't tell them that it was you who took us." Leo replied, grabbing Mikey's attention.

"Why not? You seemed so  _thrilled_ to tell them on the way here." Mikey scoffed.

"Yeah, that's true... and I'm sorry for making you feel so bad about it. None of this was your fault. I was the one who wanted to prove you wrong, and you  _did_ say that you didn't want to go." Leo sighed.

Mikey was dumbfounded. Was Leo seriously  _apologizing_ , and  _admitting his faults?_   Wow. Mikey had to be _more_ than hallucinating at the moment.

"Look, in all honesty, I was actually more afraid of the fact that you were in the store, than when we were attacked by that robot." Leo admitted.

Mikey hummed with interest, scooting over and letting Leo plop down next to him.

"When we were attacked, I noticed that you couldn't stop freezing. Every time you stopped moving, I was so afraid that you would get hurt, that I wouldn't be close enough to save you. Even though I wanted to run, I had to fight my flight, and make sure that you were always close to me, that you hadn't been..." Leo paused, heart nearly stopping as he thought about the horrible things he had imagined would happen to Mikey were Mikey to get caught.

"But, you kept bragging, and taunting me, and joking-"

"Because I was  _scared_." Leo interrupted. "I don't do well with fear, and I do even worse when your life is on the line. I can't handle the crying, and the heartbreak, and the weird emotions that make me want to tear my heart out! So, I joke around, to calm myself down."

Mikey pondered. He had never thought about things that way. Had never took into consideration that Leo did, in fact, have a heart. All Leo was trying to do, was stay calm, so that he would have the strength to protect Mikey.

"Wow. I'm such an awful brother... no wonder I'm just the cute one..." Mikey sighed.

"What? "Just the cute one"? What is that supposed to mean?" Leo asked.

"Well, everyone has a role in a team, and each role plays  _some part_ when needed. Like, Raph's the rock of the family, Donnie's the smart one, you're the laid-back one, and I'm just... the cute idiot... I don't do anything else but make you guys laugh when you don't feel like dealing with your problems. 'm a tool." Mikey sniffled.

"A  _tool?_ Who told you that?" Leo inquired, sitting up with rare worry.

"No one! I just know! None of you could ever look up to me for anything! I can't contribute to anything important! I can't help lift heavy things, or find out what the formula to some weird science experiment is, or constantly stay cool in scary situations! All I do is scream! Scream and fall! Scream, and fall, and mess things up!" Mikey sobbed, breath picking up.

At this point, it could be said that Mikey was starting to have a panic attack, and Leo had no idea how to deal with one of those. Normally, Donnie was the one who would offer solutions, and Raph would do the actual calming. Leo just stood back when any of his brothers went into these attacks.

So, _what,_ exactly was he supposed to do???

"Mikey! Don't talk like that! You're more than just a tool! You're the most important member of our family!" Leo claimed.

"HOW?!" Mikey screamed.

"Well, I mean, you're the most artistic one out of all of us! You can cook like no one else! You helped us save April from Baron Draxum!" Leo replied.

"All menial things!" Mikey sobbed.

"What?! No! Those things are so important! Without your creativity, we would be such a boring family! We wouldn't have so much progress in our missions! You help us solve puzzles that we didn't even know were puzzles! I mean, how were  _we_ supposed to know how to open that gate to the hidden city?!" Leo asked.

At this point, Mikey's breathing had calmed down, but he was still crying. A good start, but Leo still had no idea what else to do.

"And... uhm... oh! You helped us get some background on Meat Sweats!" Leo chimed.

Mikey sniffed, wiping at his eyes.

"Hey, there we go. There's my brave baby brother." Leo hummed, lying back down, and placing a hand on Mikey's cheek.

Mikey giggled, leaning into Leo's touch.

"I'm sorry I'm being so emotional." Mikey sighed.

"You don't need to apologize for having feelings. You're the most important member of this team, and everyone in our family loves you  _so much_ , more than you can even imagine." Leo assured.

"More than we love pizza?" Mikey asked.

"We would trade 8,000 boxes if it meant keeping you here with us." Leo replied.

Mikey smiled, huddling up to Leo and sighing. This was nice. Being reassured that he was important and appreciated.

"Don't you ever think of yourself so lowly. You're a great ninja. And you're such an alpha male. You make me nearly cower in fear when I see you!" Leo teased, squishing Mikey's face.

" _LEO!_ Stop it! That tickles!" Mikey squealed, laughing as Leo initiated a play fight.

The brothers rolled around for a bit before resettling on the bed, both chuckling and panting.

"You're important, special, and so much more than we deserve. You should be treated so much better than you are, I admit that, and I'll try to be nicer to you." Leo assured.

"You don't have to. As long as you keep me updated on how important I am, you can be as much of a big brother bully as you want." Mikey responded, poking Leo's snout.

Leo smirked, wiggling his snout before pulling Mikey into a hug.

"I love you, big brother." Mikey announced softly, yawning.

"I love you too... scaredy-cat." Leo replied.


End file.
